Cavs Will Lose $10M-$15M on the Season

Despite all that James has done to turn Cleveland into a winner, the Cavaliers have been losing upwards of $20 million per season over the last two seasons, and are projected to lose anywhere from $10-$15 million this season, according to league sources with knowledge of the team’s finances.

Not that the Cavs are alone. They’re one of many of the 30 NBA teams expected to lose millions — and supply the league’s owners with what they see as an iron-clad case for changing the current economic model when the labor agreement expires after next season.

Owners don’t believe their losses are merely a direct result of the lousy economy, which can be partly to blame for the league’s 2% decline in ticket sales. For the men who sign the players’ paychecks, the very system under which they operate is obsolete, only five years after they signed their last collective bargaining agreement and guaranteed players 57% of basketball related income (BRI).